Signal-holder



(No Model.)

W. B. TALLMAN.

SIGNAL HOLDER.

No. 421,784. Patented Feb. 18, 1890.

UNITED. STATES ATENT FFICE.

IVILLIAM B. TALLMAN, O'F GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN.

SIGNAL-HOLDER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 421,784, dated February 18, 1890.

Application filed August 31, 1889- Serial No. 822,508. (No model.)

To aZZ whom it may concern.- V

Be it kn own that 1, WILLIAM B. TALLMAN, a citizen of the United States, residing at the city of Grand Rapids, in the county of Kent and State of Michigan, have invented a certain new and useful Signal-Holder, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a device for holding and displaying signal-flags as used by railroad employs, surveyors, and others; and its object is to secure the continuous display of the signal under all ciicunistunces and by means simple, cheap, and compact. I attain this object by means of the mechanism illus trated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a side view of the signal-holder with the flag displayed, and Fig. 2 is the same with the flag rolled up and the holder folded for transportation.

Similar letters refer to similar parts in each view.

A is the staff, usually made of wood and sharpened at the end a a, so that it may be inserted into the ground. This sharpened end I make four-square to prevent the staff from turning part way around, as it might otherwise do in awind. Upon the top of the staff is placed the holder B, which I have made of galvanized iron and in the form of a hollow cylinder of substantially the same size as the stafi and fitting upon it so as to form a continuation of it. About half of this cylinder is cutaway for nearly its whole length, as from b to b in Fig. 1, leaving an opening which is nearly filled, as shown in Fig. 2, by the case 0. This case is cylindrical in form, at or near one end pivoted to the holder B by the pivot P, and at the other end having the pulley R operating a roller inside of the case. The flagF winds upon this roller and passes out through a longitudinal slot in the side of the case 0, so that when unwound it occupies the position shown in Fig. 1.

S is a leaf-spring of the form sho'wn, designed to be so constructed that when the case 0 is extended at right angles to the stafi the spring will lock it open, as shown in Fig. 1, and when the same is closed will also hold it in that position, as shown in Fig. 2.

- The spring is preferably bent between its attached and free ends to form an offset or shoulder, so that when the flag-case is turned to the position shown in Fig. 1 its inner end will fall under such ofiset or shoulder and the flag-case will thereby be held in its horizontal positidn. When the flag-case is swung downward beside the staff, the inner side of the upper end of the flag-case will be pressed upon by that part of the leaf-spring above its.

offset or shoulder,whereby the flag-case is re tained in the position shown in Fig. 2.

A portion of the holder B is cut away, so as to allow the case 0 to come in contact with the spring, as described. For keeping the holder in its closed position I may also use the sliding ring D, sliding vertically on the holder B, and kept in place by the stud or pin m, passing through the slot n in this ring. When the device is closed and the case 0 folded within the holder, this ring D can be raised, so as to hold the lower end of the case 0 in its closed position. It is apparent that numerous ordinary devices might be used for holding the flag-case open or closed in place of the ring and spring without varying the invention.

The signal-holder in its folded form is as compact and easily carried as an ordinary fiagstaff, and when it is to be used as a signal the staff is put into the ground, the flagcase (3 extended at right angles, and the flag pulled down, the entire operation taking but a moment. When ready to be moved, the flag is rolled up by means of the pulley R and the case folded into the holder. The flag-roller may be actuated by any of the usual means.

By the use of this device the flag is kept protected when not in use, and will therefore wear longer and keep cleaner than it otherwise would, and there is no danger of its becoming so soiled that the color cannot be distinguished; but the chief advantage of my invention is that it secures the continuous display of the signal at right angles to the railway-track or other way, so as always to show its full size toward the direction from which it is to be seen. The construction is such that the flag cannot fall limp by the side of the stafi if there is no wind, or become wrapped around if there is a wind, in either of which cases it would be liable to escape notice.

Having thus described my invention, what IOC 3. In a signal-holder, the combination of the staff, the flag-ease pivoted thereto, and I 5 the spring adapted to lock the case in its open position, substantially as described.

In witness whereof I have hereunto set my hand and seal in the presence of two witnesses.

WILLIAM B. TALLMAN. [L. Witnesses:

HUGH E. WILsoN, v HARRY P. VAN W AGNER. 

